27 & 28 January

Preparation & Venue Information

17 & 18 March

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2,3 & 4 April

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14 & 15 April

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28 & 29 April

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12 & 13 May

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23 & 24 June

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15 & 16 September

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29 & 30 September

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Feedback for Saturday

 Morning session switch stance gybe

 Key points

• Bear away
• Switch stance  
• Boom shakka
• Monkey

Main point was wide stance to stop you being over balanced

 Glad to see you working hard on these. Remember to not do your boom shakka till as late as possible (until your board has gone through the wind only downwind!), I don’t want to see any chicken gybes!

 Afternoon session downwind pumping

  Key  points

• Wide stance
• Knees bent
• See board through sail
• Sail infront

DON’T DROP THE SAIL TO THE BACK OF THE BOARD – all this does is make you point upwind

 Just remember guys your foot positioning on each tack – your front foot is the one closest to the wind and must be near the mast. The back foot must be near the reaching strap.

 Beth and I were really impressed with the progress everyone made with this. Once you start to get the feel for downwind pumping, the rewards are massive!!!

 Feedback for Sunday

 Morning session tacks

 Key Points

• Vision
• Rake sail in
• Foot change
• Throw
• Bear away

 We were really pleased with the tacking on Sunday it was hard because of the wind but the effort and improvement in techniques was really noticeable. At first the throw wasn’t completed by a lot of you so remember throwing the sail forwards keeps your speed.

 Just remember that the board must go through the eye of the wind before you foot change otherwise you will go backwards!

 Afternoon session board handling

 Guys the afternoon session wasn’t a mess around time that some of you thought it was. The aim of the session as you knew was to improve your board handling in light winds.

 On a race course board handling is one of the most important skills you need. You should know your kit back to front and those who completed this session and put effort in was noticeable and will help them 100% when racing.

Next time if we complete this session again I would like effort from everybody and for everybody to at least have a go at standing on one leg or sinking the nose etc – if you don’t understand the exercise then ask!

 -  Overall it was a very productive weekend and we are glad to see that everyone improved in some way.

- Just remember now that you must practise your tacks, switch stance gybes and downwind pumping because practise makes perfect.

- Keep in mind the main points we wrote down- write them in your note books or on your sail when practising to see if your technique is good.

 Thanks again everyone, see you soon beth and alex

Hi guy’s,

Here is my feedback on what was a great weekend of training.

General Feedback

First of all, I was very pleased with the effort that everyone was making.  Sailing well in light winds makes a huge difference to how you sail in strong winds, so it is important that light wind sailing is taken seriously (which you all did).

Everybody made good progress, in order to build on this it is really important that you go out and practice what you learnt asap!  WELL DONE J

 Saturday

On Saturday we worked on downwind pumping technique.  It is clear that this is an area where you can ALL make huge improvements which will help your light wind racing massively.  The five key points we wrote down need to be followed and can be used as a check to see if your technique is good.

 ·        Go deep

·        Throw sail forwards

·        Look for the nose – Need rig rotation to do this (throw sail forwards)

·        Bend the legs – as low as 90 degrees – ALL THE TIME!

·        Sail setting – Outhaul off

·        Wide base – Back foot on leeward side of board near front reaching strap.  Front foot on windward side of board just behind UJ.

 If you want to go deep then you have to adhere to the other points.

IF YOU CAN’T BEND YOUR BACK LEG AND GO DEEP THEN YOU ARE LETTING THE CLEW OF THE SAIL DROP TOO LOW! – To stop this, you need to throw the sail forward earlier. DON’T DROP THE SAIL TO THE BACK OF THE BOARD – all this does is make you point upwind.

 Sunday

On Sunday, we worked on downwind tactics in the morning followed by some more practice of the downwind pumping technique.

Tactics – There are two key points that I want you to take away from the tactics session.  They are as follows.

 ·        If you come round the upwind mark and are deciding which way to go downwind, stay with the majority unless you have a really good reason not to e.g. a gust.

·        If you are coming into the downwind mark and you have to let someone through, it is much better to let them go and make a good mark rounding than to go on the outside and be in dirty wind for the whole beat.

Well done guys, keep up the good work!          Jim and Ian